Ruth Leon recommends… Reflections – Leonard Bernstein
Ruth Leon recommendsReflections – Leonard Bernstein
Click here for tickets : tv subscription
Leonard Bernstein was unique. He bridged the gap between classical music and contemporary culture as composer, of West Side Story and other musicals as well as many pieces for the concert hall, conductor, pianist, and musical pedagogue, with his pioneering television concerts for young people. This year he’s getting the Hollywood treatment with a forthcoming Bradley Cooper feature film, but, in this documentary, directed by Peter Rosen, we can discover his life in his own words. Here are the public and private sides of his life and work, following him from his home to his debut at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
This film is a rare personal portrait of Leonard Bernstein from the spontaneous joy of his Broadway hits, to the bold, spiritual quest of his orchestral works, and his intensity and vitality as a conductor. Leonard Bernstein was a central figure of 20th century music.
This is Bernstein in his own words. It brings a renewed appreciation of this gifted man and his far-reaching influence. This documentary takes viewers from the Leonard Bernstein Festival in Israel in 1977 to the stage of his famous debut at Carnegie Hall in New York and into the privacy of his home and studio.
He was a good story-teller and in this film he tells about his childhood and early years in Boston, his musical growth at Harvard and at the Curtis Institute, and the influence of great masters like Reiner, Mitropoulis and Koussevitsky. Bernstein’s eloquence and charm have marked his television appearances and are powerfully evidenced in this documentary: from the pioneering Omnibus programmes of the 1950s, and the CBS Young People’s Concerts to the provocative Norton lectures delivered at Harvard in the 1970s.
He was unquestionably a fascinating individual in addition to his expertise is so many aspects of music. But I doubt if he will talk about his early years with the other very out gay composers and whether there was any truth in the rumours that he outed Mitropoulos to ensure hr did not get the Boston Symphony job and then helped engineer his departure from the NY Phil.
And who despite wearing and kissing Koussevitsky’s cufflinks regularly derided him for his musical shortcomings. As I recall he went to great lengths to let those in positions of authority/power know that he had to create a piano reduction of The Rite of Spring so SK could get the rhythms. A very talented but troubled person.
I’d like to see this Bernstein documentary. The only pointer to how I might see it is the “Click here for tickets” link, which goes to a Marquee.tv web page that shows the error “404: Looks like we’re having trouble finding this page.”
I subscribe to Marquee TV, and I don’t see this documentary listed there either as a ticketed or unticketed event. Is it (or will it be) streaming somewhere?
Lenny was my favorite conductor to work with. In over 40 years of professional orchestral playing, I’d never played under a conductor who had genuine passion for the music and equal compassion for players. Truly one in a million.
I’ll probably skip the documentary.